We are pleased to announce the release of Zanby beta 1.3 at http://www.zanby.com. This release represents a continuing evolution of Zanby as a community and as a software application. Zanby is a new brand and still very much in flux. This is the first of several releases in which we begin to nudge the brand towards its final state.

The second area we addressed is the search algorithms and the search results interface. It should be much easier and faster to locate groups. The results should be more accurate and the sort functions much more reliable. Also, we heard users when they said they wanted to locate groups much more quickly. We added the groups search field and a browse by group category index to the home page.

Perhaps most noticeably, users can now search for and locate all Zanby content without registering for the site. All group content that is flagged as “public” is visible to the browsing public. All events are visible as well.

Below is a summary of enhancements made in this release.

What’s new

General

The anonymous site has been replaced with full Zanby content and group experience. Users can now browse all public content without registering.

Optimized formal search rules have been introduced to both Group and Member search. The results for all searches on Zanby will be substantially more accurate.

Errors in search result sort behavior have been eliminated. It is now possible to navigate from the beginning of a result to the end after applying multiple sort functions.

We have fixed the cookie setting function that caused users to have to login every time they visited the site.

User Interface

The space used for global navigation has been reduced

Higher-contrast section headers have been introduced

Navigational categories are color-coded.

Both the Group and Member search utilities have been streamlined

The search results display has been redesigned for usability

A group locator has been added to the homepage

Browse groups by category has been added to the homepage

All buttons have been standardized.

Tab navigation on lower levels has been standardized.

The Search ort functions have been re-designed.

Group Forums

Group members can now post active links to the message boards.

The thread posting order on the message boards has been reversed. Now, the most recent threads will appear at the top of the index of threads.

Thank you for using Zanby. Please contact us at feedback@zanby.com with any comments and suggestions. We look forward to continuing to serve you.